Introduction: The “Forty Thieves” at the Semiramis Hotel On March 12, 1921, a convoy of official vehicles arrived at the Semiramis Hotel on the banks of the Nile in Cairo. Emerging from the cars was a gathering of British officials that arguably represented the greatest concentration of imperial expertise ever assembled in one location. At … Continue reading Churchill’s Invention: The Cairo Conference of 1921 and the Fabrication of the Iraqi State